Second in the standings before the start of hostilities this Saturday morning, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais took the lead in the Rally of Portugal: the French crew took advantage of their Toyota teammate, Kalle Rovanperä, going off the road in a bend during of the second special of the day. The Finn and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen escaped unscathed but their dreams of victory were dashed.
The eight-time French world champion is now 3”4 ahead of the Estonian Ott Tänak and 15”7 over the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta. Another Frenchman involved, Adrien Fourmaux moved up to sixth place, 45”8 behind his compatriot.
Leader of WRC2, Swede Oliver Solberg also went off the road a turn further than Rovanperä. A racing fact which benefits the Frenchman Yohan Rossel since he takes the lead in the classification.
